Coastline - Richard Elliot:
The best laid plans of mice & men sometimes go astray and such was the case with this excellent album. In my haste to give new & lesser known artists an opportunity to be heard, I sometimes tend to overlook more established stars that really don't need my support to be successful. They've done it already & without me!! Nevertheless, I must admit that this excellent album could have easily made our top twenty most played list for the year and perhaps would have there if the creation of a weekly show were less of an art and more of a science. In any event, that certainly can't diminish our enjoyment of this excellent project, one of Elliot's finer releases in recent years.

We will try as much as possible to make amends in the coming year. In the meantime, we have this superb track, one of our all time favourites from Mr. Elliot. An old friend, Rick Braun guests on trumpet & flugelhorn, Gregg Karukas handles keys & programming and that's Dwight Sills filling in on guitar. This is an absolutely superb piece that's highlighted by the soothing & sensual playing of Elliot himself on tenor sax. It's smooth, moody & melodic; just the way we like them!!

CD: Metro Blue
Label: ARTizen Music Group
Sites: Richard Elliot ; ARTizen
Artist Page: Richard Elliot

Sweet Saxations - Pamela Williams:
I first got hooked on her music with The Saxtress, Pamela Williams' 1996 debut, and ever since then I've definitely enjoyed an affinity for her playing. There was little that transpired in the years that followed that would cause me to alter that opinion that is until the release of The Perfect Love in 2003. On The Perfect Love, Pamela suddenly took her music to an entirely new level!! That was when I realized that Ms Williams was indeed the "first lady of sax" and so naturally I've given Pam her due ever since!!

So was I excited when Pam followed that release with Sweet Saxations in 2005? Well in a phrase, you bet I was!! Not only was the first lady of sax back, she was sounding better than ever!! Funky & soulful, energetic and smooth, Sweet Saxations has it all!! Consequently, it isn't surprising to find the album & Ms Williams on our end of the year "most played" list. When pressed to find a selection that would represent the quintessential Pamela Williams, I didn't have to look very hard as any of several could have easily filled the bill. None, however, is any sweeter than title track!!

CD: Sweet Saxations
Label: Shanachie Entertainment
Sites: Pamela Williams ; Shanachie Records ; Pam at Heads Up
Artist Page: Pamela Williams

Pacific Coast Highway - Nils:
You know how it is when you hear certain songs and you just immediately connect. That's the way that it was with Nils & PCH back in January of 2005. You could immediately tell this was no ordinary selection & that it was destined to become a mammoth hit !! Prior to releasing this his sophomore project, Nils was known only in a select circle, to musicians in and around the LA area that he'd played with & to a small number of avid music enthusiasts who had followed his career with great anticipation!! It's now hard to imagine anyone on the planet, who enjoys smooth jazz and hasn't heard of the German born guitarist & this stellar effort.

If you're reading this, you yourself have no doubt grooved along to this fantastic tune that musically simulates a cruise along that famed stretch of highway in California that was the namesake for the project & for the track. Nils was not only our "breakthru" artist for 2005, he also was the author of our #1 most played album & #1 most played selection for the year. He also just narrowly got beat out for being the most played artist over all. Nevertheless, I'm betting that the accolades will continue to roll in for quite some time yet as the album is heavily laden with an abundance of choice tracks !!

CD: Pacific Coast Highway
Label: Baja/TSR
Site: Nils
Artist Page: Nils

Deep Into You - Gregg Karukas:
A perennial favourite on our show, Karukas delivered one of his finest overall performances to date in 2005. The lead single from the album was rather prophetically titled London Underground and was released to radio prior to the tragic London subway bombing this past summer. Although the track was starting to generate some excitement, Karukas decided to abandon its promotion in light of those tragic events. As a result, the cd lost a bit of all important momentum.

Nevertheless, there isn't a bad track on the record while the sequencing of the selections is particularly impressive! A slew of top flight talent is headed up by Rick Braun, Ricardo Silveira, Thom Rotella, and Michael O'Neill and Peter White & Richard Smith are both featured on Deep Into You, one of our absolute favourites on the disc. Smooth, soothing and laid back, you can get lost in the melodies & simply drift away!! There are eleven tracks in all on Looking Up and over the course of the past few months we've played seven on our show, one of the highest totals for any album in '05!! For all Karukas fans, this one is a must!!

CD: Looking Up
Label: trippin 'n' Rhythm Records
Sites: Gregg Karukas ; trippin
Artist Page: Gregg Karukas

Have You Heard? - Jeff Golub:
Long one of the most popular performers on the contemporary scene, Golub's unique bluesy tinged blend of rhythm 'n' rock, has found an avid following among the smooth jazz crowd. Although he released his solo debut back in '88, Jeff didn't really hit his musical stride until he launched the Avenue Blue series in 1994. Since then it's been ever onward & upward for Golub who now boasts an impressive catalogue of three "Blue albums" and five more under his own name.

On Temptation, his latest effort released in 2005, Golub for the first time connected with top producer Paul Brown. This affiliation certainly doesn't seem to have hurt Jeff any. Perhaps a bit smoother than some of his previous efforts, this may his most focused, and in my humble opinion, his finest project to date!! We debuted the album in May of last year by playing Simple Pleasures, the advance single. Since then we've gone on to play another seven selections, meaning we've played a total of 8 tracks all from the same cd. That fact makes Temptation, the most "represented album" on our show for all of '05.

CD: Temptation
Label: Narada Jazz
Sites: Jeff Golub ; Narada
Artist Page: Jeff Golub